The prints were exposed after the sea eroded away an area of sandy beach last May.

But Dr Ashton's team had to quickly battle to record what they had found before the prints were destroyed by the elements.

They took extensive video and pictures and used a scanner to capture to create a 3D model.

"At first we weren’t sure what we were seeing," said Dr Ashton.

"But as we removed any remaining beach sand and sponged off the seawater, it was clear that the hollows resembled prints, perhaps human footprints, and that we needed to record the surface as quickly as possible before the sea eroded it away."

Happisburgh beach

The team can't be sure what type of human species the prints belong to, but they believe it could be homo antecessor - a southern European tribe known as 'Pioneer Man'.

"These people were of a similar height to ourselves and were fully bipedal," said Dr Ashton.

"They seem to have become extinct in Europe by 600,000 years ago and were perhaps replaced by the species Homo heidelbergensis. Neanderthals followed from about 400,000 years ago, and eventually modern humans some 40,000 years ago.”

The discovery is exceptionally rare.

Only those at Laetoli in Tanzania at about 3.5 million years and at Ileret and Koobi Fora in Kenya at about 1.5 million years are more ancient.

"These footprints provide a very tangible link to our forebears and deep past" said Dr Ashton.